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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970937">In a Heartbeat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palizinha/pseuds/Palizinha'>Palizinha</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:35:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>702</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970937</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palizinha/pseuds/Palizinha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Following Rumplestiltskin's death, Wish Realm Killian Jones takes it upon himself to tell Gideon what happened.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In a Heartbeat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Killian wasn’t sure what the proper way to do this was.</p>
<p>There didn’t seem to be a good way to walk up to a man you’ve never met, and tell him his father - his last living relative, as far as Killian knew - was dead.</p>
<p>But he knew it had to be him. The heart beating in his chest told him as much.</p>
<p>The hardest part was the wait, the many, many years between Rumplestiltsin’s death, and the time they were sent back in time. It would be ridiculous to come up to a teenager living with two living parents and telling him his father was dead.</p>
<p>Killian had kept Gideon’s letters to his old friend, which had been brought over by the curse, and waited, looking at the dates marked on them.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure Gideon would recognize him. As far as he was aware, Gideon had left Storybrooke permanently with his parents when he was very young, there was no reason he’d remember his father’s old enemy.</p>
<p>No reason for Gold to ever mention him at all either.</p>
<p>When the day finally came, Killian walked into the place the last of Gideon’s letters had been sent from, looking at the pictures of Gideon from Weaver’s travel book.</p>
<p>After a while, Killian found Gideon inside the castle, talking to another man his age.</p>
<p>“Gideon Gold?” Killian asked, unsure how to react to the way his heart beat to seeing Weaver’s kid. Like it recognized him.</p>
<p>“Yes, is there something I can help you with?” Gideon asked. Polite, mild mannered. Killian had never met Belle (outside of… that one time in Regina’s castle, but that wasn’t the same Belle), but maybe she was where Gideon got that personality from.</p>
<p>“I’m Killian, I am a friend of your father’s?” Killian said. Saying so felt wrong - his heart inside him kept beating, talking of a connection strong enough that Killian couldn’t compare it to anyone else.</p>
<p>It seemed as soon as Gideon heard that, he knew. He deflated, but there was a smile on his face. “He did it. He’s with mom now.”</p>
<p>“I hope so,” Killian said. It had been so many years, and it had hurt to never look up at the travel book to see where Weaver was to go see him again. All that time, the only reason he had held strong was that he knew Weaver was happy, with Belle. If he wasn’t…</p>
<p>“Did he not find the Guardian?” Gideon asked, probably a bit disconcerted by Killian not being sure.</p>
<p>“He did, but… he chose not to use her power,” Killian said. “My daughter. He felt making her immortal when she had just found love would one day result in her going through the same pain he did, when your mother died.”</p>
<p>“A part of my father died with her,” Gideon said. “The few times I got to see him afterwards… it wasn’t the same. But in his letters, he spoke of a friendship with a girl named Alice. I assume she’s your daughter, then.”</p>
<p>“I was cursed, when my daughter was young. We couldn’t be together, couldn’t touch, without it resulting in my death,” Killian said. “I died, and I thought that was it, and then suddenly I was fine and Alice told me Weaver had given his life to save me.”</p>
<p>Gideon didn’t seem surprised, despite how much some of the people in Storybrooke didn’t believe it when they first learned that story. Killian was glad Gideon had known his father better than others.</p>
<p>“I always knew my father was a hero,” Gideon said, a smile on his face.</p>
<p>Killian’s heart beat stronger over that line, Weaver’s son saying something Killian was sure Weaver had always wanted his children to believe, even when he couldn’t live up to it.</p>
<p>“He loves you very much still,” his heartbeat proved that, one of the few times Killian was so acutely aware that the heart in his chest wasn’t his own.</p>
<p>“I know,” Gideon nodded.</p>
<p>“My friend looked after my daughter when I couldn’t,” Killian said. “I’ll make sure to do the same for you, if you ever need help.”</p>
<p>His heart felt warm, and Killian knew Weaver appreciated the thought.</p>
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